Muscle memory

I was tidying the living room the other day (trust me, it doesn’t happen very often) and rediscovered the giant granny square blanket that I started making about two years ago. I’m not sure why it got forgotten, but it has been sitting in a basket under the coffee table for a very long time. There was no way, I thought, that I would be able to pick it up and carry on without going back and relearning how to crochet. Surely a two-year hiatus would have erased my extremely limited crochet skills. I was amazed, and a bit relieved, that my hands remembered what to do, even if my brain didn’t. That kind of thing fascinates me.

It’s about 34 inches square at the moment, and I think I have enough yarn to squeeze out another three colours, if I am lucky. It needs to be blocked within an inch of its life – my tension is not what it should be. Its pinned into submission in this photo, and it doesn’t look very happy about it!

Annie (from my favourite online fabric shop, The Village Haberdashery) gave me a mini charm pack of the new Kona colours a couple of weeks ago. I have a bit of a thing for colour order (I know, you’d never guess) and had great fun this morning playing around with some teeny half-square triangles (they finished at 1 1/4 inches). I love the shrapnel you get after you trim – I often wonder whether I could actually make anything with it. And then I realise that no, no you can’t. Makes a good photo though.

This mini quilt is destined for a secret recipient, as a thank you for various things. I hope she likes it. I’m not sure the kids will be too happy about me giving it away!

A few of us from the LMQG are off to John Lewis tomorrow to see our mini-quilt exhibition. I’m really excited to see them on display. Today John Lewis, tomorrow the V&A! Well, a girl can dream, right?